After an intentionally long international break, meant to decrease the overall number of breaks, Milan have their first real injury of the year. Nothing new, of course. Whether the players go on international duty or not, the injuries typically come when trainings, routines, teammates, and playing styles are mixed up. And Sunday evening Milan travel to Sassuolo for their first of nine matches in 28 days, basically playing every three days. So it is a weird time for Gerald to turn up for the press conference in his "Make Milan Great Again" red hat, styled after the red MAGA hats of the current U.S. President's sycophants. Like with current political events in the U.S.A. and Europe right now, I cannot imagine a more obnoxious way to alienate a majority of your fan base (and just when some people were starting to like him, too.) This is the last thing this team needs going into this busy, high pressure month, is for the owner to be Making Milan Political Again.
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| Gerald needs to be sent off for wearing such a stupid hat. |
It's not enough that Sassuolo are Milan's Kryptonite team. When we went to the Mapei in May, they shamed us with a 2-0 victory over us after we went down to ten men less than 30 minutes in. And the 2-2 draw at the San Siro in December was not anything to be proud of, either. And that was when Fabio Grosso was their manager. Now, they are managed by former Milan midfielder Alberto Aquilani.
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| "Wait, all I have to do is line up Berardi, and we'll win? That seems too easy." |
Sassuolo come into this one in 10th place on the table, with two wins, a draw, and two losses. Their most recent match was a 2-1 loss to Monza ahead of the international break. For that match, Aquilani lined up a 4-3-3 with: Murić; Cinquegrano, Duje Caleta-Car, Leysen, Josh Doig; Thorstvedt, Matić, Bakola; Milan's personal curse, Berardi, Sebastiano Esposito, and Laurienté. Aquilani is apparently dealing with quite a number of injuries. He will be missing Baloca, Volpato, Ismaël Koné, Pieragnolo, Candé, Walukiewicz,and Idzes.
Amorim has his first real injury of the season in Saelemaekers, whose ankle training injury last week seems more serious than first thought, and he will be in Amsterdam on Monday for a consultation. It is speculated that he could be out for at least three months, though. Pietro Terracciano will also miss this one due to a shoulder injury from training, so Bouyer will take his place on the bench. Estupiñan has recovered from his minor muscle injury this week, and Gabbia is finally back as well. The manager is likely to use similar tactics to the winning match vs. Lecce ahead of the break.
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| Heal up quick, Alexis! |
Milan had 15 players on international duty, and Milan players chalked up the most hours played for their national teams over their break, as well. Additionally, Amorim only had all of his players back to train altogether as of Friday, so only had two days to really prepare for this match, one of which was also spent traveling to Reggio-Emilia. The good news, though, is that Sassuolo announced they had completely sold out the aways stands, which means that Milan fans will be there in full force.
And all of this would be daunting enough on its own, even the pressure of playing on the pitch where Milan won their most recent Scudetto four years ago now. But then a completely clueless and tone def American owner brought politics into play by wearing that moronic hat to the Prematch Press Conference. And personally, I'm offended, because I had the idea for those hats three years ago when Milan came to the U.S. (albeit with the addition of #cardinaleout.) We all know Gerald will not be sharing any royalties with me.
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| This is not how to become "Berlusconi 2.0" |
But seriously, on the very day that the America's Orange Dictator went on a public outrage about not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (again,) in the same week he casually mentioned two important U.S. port and military cities as possible military targets for the country they are at war with, Gerald aligning with the U.S. President with the lowest approval ratings ever, who is losing support daily, is beyond naïve. Like what exactly is he trying to accomplish? He's literally destroyed a winning Milan side, you don't destroy something to "make it great again."
Worse still, Gerald chose to wear the hat the same week "The Orange Plague" statue of a nude Trump was installed at the European Parliament as well. You know, the group of nations where Italy is located? Just read the room. Fans and journalists alike were finally warming up to you, Gerald. And you want to not only throw that goodwill away, but also lose even more fans for your politically-based absurd attempted media gimmick? The team and manager do not need any more pressure. But then again, it is clearly just part of his idea of "Making Milan Political Again."
Saturday, October 10 • 13:00 CEST (7am EDT)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Milan Futuro vs. Rovato Vertovese
Sunday, Ocotber 11 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)
Sunday, October 11 • 18:00 CEST (12noon EDT)
Reviewed by Elaine
on
Rating:
